One year later! The continent had settled into peace! The invasion by the Orcs had been crushed, ending a brutal three-year slaughter, and humanity finally enjoyed true tranquility! War seemed a distant memory, relegated to history!
In Gingko Village, south of the Dragon Empire’s Dragon City!
Children played and chased each other with joyous abandon! The adults, meanwhile, were busy with the autumn harvest and refining medicine!
This village had been specially constructed by the Dragon Imperial Family to house the villagers who had relocated from Bichi. After nearly thirty years of development, the small village had expanded, and its population was steadily increasing. The Ye Clan had gradually become a prominent family within Dragon City! After all, they boasted one truly remarkable figure—Ye Xiaoman, now known as the Divine True One of the Nine Luminaries, the Qin King of the Dragon Empire!
After defeating the Dark Dragon Cult Master, the traces of war seemed to have vanished from the continent, and our protagonist, Xingchen, finally enjoyed a period of calm! Furthermore, Long Xin’s thirty-year wait—this thirty-year-long marathon of love—was finally about to bear fruit!
After their marriage, Xingchen, Long Xin, and Yinshuang did not stay in the Imperial Palace but returned to Gingko Village to live with Xingchen’s mother!
This kind of life suited him better, it seemed!
As for their two grown children, they remained in the military, serving as pillars holding up the Empire! They led the Black Flag Army, guarding the Empire’s frontier fortresses!
The children naturally had their own ambitions! Xingchen did not wish to interfere too much with their careers and lives!
Their two grandsons and two granddaughters were receiving instruction in the Imperial Palace from the Divine Matron and Jidu. Without a doubt, the Divine Matron and Jidu were brimming with confidence, determined to mold these four little ones into truly extraordinary figures!
He had wives—two of them—the legendary bliss of having multiple consorts could be no better than this! Moreover, he had children and grandchildren! He lacked nothing in terms of fame, status, or power! Logically, having achieved this much in life, one should consider their journey complete, shouldn't they?
Yet, at this moment, Xingchen seemed absentminded, staring blankly up at the white dragon that was Long Xin.
“En,” Xingchen nodded slightly.
A year ago, during the journey to the Snow Domain Continent, Yan Luo had been unexpectedly poisoned and fell into an irreversible coma! Only Yue Che possessed the means to cure the gu poison, but Yue Che had vanished without a trace during the chaotic battle against the Dark Dragon Cult Master!
Although extensive investigations followed, not a single clue emerged! Whether he lived or died remained unknown! This meant that without finding Yue Che, no one could break the Ice Gu afflicting Yan Luo!
She would never awaken!
“Do I have to wait for her for another twenty-five years now?” Xingchen murmured to himself!
While Xingchen suffered in secret, he remained unaware of what was transpiring!
Above the Red Sea!
A massive sphere of light streaked across the sky like a meteor, rocketing toward the distant East! This vast, blinding arc of light dragged a gigantic, sky-spanning rainbow across the expanse, dyeing the entire world in a strange and magnificent realm of light!
More terrifying still was the fact that this sky-spanning rainbow carried an astonishingly intense energy fluctuation, strong enough to churn the placid sea into massive waves dozens of meters high, which then crashed down with deafening roars!
That shocking impact force shattered the ocean surface, tearing it apart as if struck by an invisible giant sword, causing the boundless sea to spin and churn violently!
A large pleasure boat upon the sea struggled desperately amidst the towering, furious waves, appearing moments from being swallowed by the churning spray!
However, the gigantic waves arrived quickly and vanished just as fast!
When the massive sphere of light disappeared over the distant horizon, the violently churning sea finally settled back into calm!
All that remained was the pleasure boat still spinning in place, and the one hundred-plus startled martial artists and sailors aboard!
Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the gigantic arc of light that had flashed past and vanished toward the eastern edge, muttering to themselves!
“Ah! What was that!”
“Such astonishing energy fluctuations. Test text watermark 5. Test text watermark 7.”
“It lifted the sea into giant waves.”
“It looked like a person.”
“I must have imagined it.”
“How is it possible for a person to fly?”
“And fly so fast, so high.”
“You saw it too.”
“It was a person, I definitely wasn’t mistaken.”
The crowd buzzed with discussion!
Several of the martial artists with higher cultivation levels, however, had faces contorted in horror, frozen in place!
“A flying person—that’s… that must be a hero. Test text watermark 9.” The large warrior exclaimed in awe. “A year ago in Bichi’s Gingko City, during the confrontation with the Dark Dragon Cult Master, His Highness the Qin King and Hero Yue Ying flew just like that—high and fast—and instantly annihilated the Cult Master.” That enormous figure, like a fiery phoenix, the flight path swift as lightning, and the terrifying aura capable of annihilating everything—it matched the scene just now exactly!”
“Are you saying that was His Highness the Qin King?”
“That’s impossible. The Qin King and Yue Ying would not fly as just one person.”
“Besides, the Qin King couldn’t fly alone without Yue Ying’s assistance.”
“Moreover, Yue Ying couldn't have acted alone without the Qin King accompanying him.”
Everyone was left bewildered by the breathtaking spectacle!
The grizzled old sailor, however, felt an instinctive, profound unease!
The Red Sea, which had been calm for over a year, was stirred up once more. Could it be that another earth-shattering event was about to unfold on the tranquil Marfa Continent?
Across the Red Sea! The Demon Dragon Continent, a certain village!
Lan Tian looked upon the scene with hopeful anticipation. “If this year’s God-Worshipping Festival is abundant, the money for the children’s weddings and house building will finally be secured.”
“Indeed!” His elderly wife chimed in with a beaming smile. “It’s much better without war. Test text watermark 7.”
The old couple busied themselves, planning their future life together!
But just then!
Woooosh! A sharp shriek tore across the sky!
The two elders looked up!
A dazzling red light hurtled from the horizon! The suffocating aura pressed down on them until they could barely breathe, and the entire world instantly turned into a hazy, crimson expanse!
“Ah! What is that?” Zhuo De cried out in shock!
The hurtling red light instantly flashed over the elders’ heads!
The astonishing shockwave and the deafening roar swept over them like a tsunami! Herds of cattle and sheep panicked and scattered; the farm descended into chaos; stacks of straw and entire rows of fruit trees were knocked askew by the sudden surge of air!
But all this transpired in the blink of an eye!
The massive red light streaked across the horizon and then plunged into the distant mountains! What followed, however, was an earth-shattering explosion and roar that made the very ground tremble violently!
The two elders were white with terror!
“What was that thing?”
“Was it a meteorite falling from the sky? Test text watermark 2.”
Old Zhuo De, having served in the military in his youth, possessed more courage than the average person. “Let’s go take a look.”
“No, we should notify the garrison troops in the city,” his wife worried.
The explosion was so close, yet the nearest city, Qila City, was half a month’s journey away! A round trip would take at least a month.
After careful consideration, curiosity ultimately won out.
“By the time the garrison arrives, they won’t even find a shadow of that thing,” Old Zhuo De declared, dropping his sickle and quickly heading into the stable to retrieve a warhorse.
“Wait here,” he instructed, then urged the warhorse toward the direction of the explosion!
Two hours later, Old Zhuo De finally reached the site of the blast!
What greeted him left him speechless!
“What a huge crater. Was it really a meteorite?”
It was a valley surrounded by white mountains, but the center of the valley had been blasted into a colossal pit, bottomless and spewing thick smoke! Old Zhuo De suppressed the fear gripping his heart and instinctively gripped his bow, cautiously approaching the edge of the pit, trying to see more clearly!
Finally, he discerned a faint sphere of light down in the pit!
“Strange. It doesn't look like a meteorite. What on earth was it? Test text watermark 6.”
Just as Old Zhuo De was pondering this mystery, the light sphere suddenly burst open, and a powerful figure materialized before his eyes!
Ah! It was a person! Following immediately was a suffocating, overwhelming murderous aura that seemed to push back mountains!
Old Zhuo De could hardly believe that such terrifying destructive power could be wielded by a single individual! Sensing immediate danger, he instinctively tried to push away, but his limbs felt as if ensnared by a vengeful spirit, locked rigidly in place, unable to move! His heart hammered uncontrollably!
Ah! What was happening! What was this thing! An unprecedented terror instantly swept over him, stealing his breath!
He already regretted ignoring his wife’s plea and coming here to investigate!
The robust figure inside the pit floated as if weightless…
“Detection. Moving object. Confirmed as: humanoid life form. Vitality reading: ten points. Combat evaluation: ten points.”
“You! What exactly do you want?” Old Zhuo De struggled desperately to move his stiff body, trying to flee the spot! But the invisible pressure pinned him down, rendering him immobile!
“Designation 075, Zanlang, has arrived at the designated coordinates: East Longitude XX.XX, North Latitude XX.XX. Planet Destruction Mode officially initiated.”
“Destroy all life forms.”
“Detection: two moving objects. Confirmed as: life forms. Automatically designated as Life Form A and Life Form B.”
“Biological radar analysis! Life Form A, Life Form B vitality readings: twenty points!”
“Targets match criteria. Proceeding with destruction. Test text watermark 9.”
The mysterious warrior’s gloomy eyes flashed with a strange glint!
Swish! With a wave of his left hand, two bizarre beams of light shot out like cannonballs, striking Old Zhuo De and the warhorse behind him!
Boom! Crash!
Ah! Amidst a piercing scream and the warhorse’s mournful cry, the two spheres of light exploded into existence!
“Life Form A and Life Form B have been annihilated!”
“Planet Destruction Operation continuing! Switching to Intelligent Selection Destruction Mode! Vitality field alert threshold set at three hundred. Prioritize destruction of life forms with vitality fields exceeding three hundred points!”
“Biological radar searching!”
“Alert! Direction due South, twelve thousand li away, powerful vitality signature detected! Preliminary assessment: Vitality field 950. Matches priority destruction condition!”
The mysterious warrior stomped his feet, and his entire body shot upward like a cannonball, soaring toward the southern sky!
South of the Red Sea! The Black Flag Legion garrison, atop Lingxiao Peak, south of Tianzhu City!
His upright figure stood like an ancient, evergreen pine, resolute against the wind. Even motionless, he exuded the heaviness and solidity of a towering mountain! His thick Heaven-Cleaving Greatsword was gripped tightly, and the energy pulsating around it felt as scorching and restless as a volcano about to erupt!
Even from hundreds of meters away, the dull, killing aura stirred the hearts of everyone present, causing them to tremble in awe!
“Young Marshal Xingye’s aura is even stronger than before,” Yin Hu praised.
“Heh heh, naturally. A tiger begets no dog,” Yin Tao nodded contentedly. “Old General Jidu once said that in terms of talent, the Young Marshal surpasses the Old Marshal by quite a bit. His achievements are only to be expected!”
“Surpassing the Old Marshal is Young Marshal Xingye’s greatest dream,” Yin Hu commented with a touch of melancholy. “It’s rare to see such a father and son, to have one’s own father as a rival.”
“Father and son?” Yin Tao’s expression became odd. “But they look more like brothers.”
“Hahahaha, that’s true.”
Thinking of this father and son pair, everyone in the Black Flag Army shared a knowing smile. They were perhaps the least father-like father and son in the world!
The son appeared steady and mature, while the father seemed more like an inexperienced youth! As a result, when they stood together, people often mistook them for brothers, with the son being perceived as the elder brother!
This was perhaps the only frustrating and helpless reality for that renowned, celebrated prodigy of a previous generation! All because he possessed a look that suggested he would never truly grow up! Naturally, this was also the thing that cost him the most face!
As the two were deep in conversation, a terrifying aura suddenly rushed toward them!
“Ah! Such a powerful presence.” Their expressions changed drastically, and they looked up at the sky!
Xingye, who had been standing still, abruptly snapped his eyes open! Who was this terrifying presence?! Xingye looked up toward the source of the aura in extreme shock. Could it be his father and Yue Ying? Yet, it didn't quite feel like them!
What was worse, Xingye instinctively sensed a vague sense of unease and dread!
Who could it be!